I recently heard a pastor say that “experience shouldn’t determine our doctrine, only the Bible should.” He went on to explain that we might experience all sorts of things that lead us to believe one thing or another, but that the only true, infallible source of doctrine is the Bible and whenever our experience causes us to question Biblical doctrine, we must always defer to Biblical teaching, since it is the Word of God.
For those from a conservative/fundamentalist background, such an admonition will not come as a surprise — it’s the standard trope of “The Bible Says It, I Believe It, That Settles It.” But when I heard those words I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Why? Because such a hermeneutical framework, while seemingly the safest path towards following the teaching of God, is actually the most dangerous! (more…)